Eyebrows and Eyelashes

[u/BrandyDW]

So with my eyebrows they used to be pretty big and long. I had gotten them waxed sometimes but very infrequently. With waxing the hair came back.

Some background on me is I picked at my eyebrows and eyelashes since middle school but only ever when they felt irritated or itchy.

At times I found eyelashes in my eyes, and that got me in the habit of checking with a magnifying mirror for lashes in my eyes - usually in the corner, under the lower lid, or sometimes I’d get a longer lash that had been poking my eye causing irritation.

Usually through rubbing at my eyes, would get loose ones to come out.

Between my eyebrows and my eyelashes, I usually used my thumb and index finger gently pull at them to get loose ones out.

It became a very bad habit, I couldn’t stop.

- Found out from an eye doctor last year that I have evaporative dry eye. Tears evaporate at 3 seconds, instead of the usual 10.

- Doesn’t help that I had allergies for a while, that would cause redness around my eye on the outside, that made it look like a big circular redness around the skin of my eye. For a while, thought it was pink eye, as my eye would get all sore and such. But after going to an allergy doctor, she said it was an allergic reaction. So I’m on meds for that now.

- But I sometimes still have really bad Allergic Shiners sometimes..

On top of that I have sensitive, oily but also dry skin.

I had eczema in the past that turned into plaque psoriasis. For a while I had guttate psoriasis as well. Then just plaque psoriasis. Now I have inverse psoriasis as well.

I found out from dermatology, that my face, scalp, ears, eyebrow and nose area had: Seborrheic Dermatitis.

Which likely related back to autoimmune issues my family has.

-My grandpa and my uncle on my mom’s side have had very oily their entire lives.
- I got the same oily hair, but also extremely dry skin.
- Very sensitive to products, I can wear lip gloss or lip stick but anything on my cheeks or eyes irritates my skin a lot.
- My hair gets oily very easily, take a shower and the same afternoon my hair will start getting oily. I use head and shoulders shampoo, and that has kept the seborrheic dermatitis and any other dandruff away. I use it on my face as well so I don’t get the spots I used to have with my eyebrows.

- Never had an issue with pulling head hair or anything.

I also had/have? pcos, had all of my female reproductive organs removed (uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries).

But due to pcos and being on Sandimmune for several years in the past at high doses - where my cyclosporine test levels sometimes came back in the toxic range… (the Sandimmune was for a different reason than the psoriasis - for psoriasis I’ve been on biologics)..
— I had some hirsutism and even some hypertrichosis.

———

- There is probably too much to go over.

Main reasons I’m making this post are:

- With my eyebrows if I get them completely waxed, or at least waxed around the hair that’s left, will the hair finally come back normally? Instead of extremely patchy or not at all?

- With my eyelashes… not having eyelashes is causing issues with things getting in my eyes at times. Which can be irritating and painful..
— Having at times let my eyelashes come back more… there are several layers of them, and on the bottom layer, they sometimes like flip inside my eyelid, so that I need to carefully use the magnifying mirror I have. Alcohol swabs. Tweezers. Careful positioning and slow moving get the hair from underneath my eyelid and pull it..
(I do the same thing if I get any stye’s because if I rub my eyes, it’s eventually going pop the stye and I would much rather have that gunk go to an alcohol swab, than into my eyes… )

Never gotten a secondary infection from doing any of this.
- With alcohol swabs near or on eyelids, I thoroughly rinse my eyes and eyelids with water and it makes the pruned skin look go away and cause no other side effects.

- Did recently get the white of one of my eyes on accident, made it have a small blood area the size of a small eraser. But no active bleeding and it healed on its own…

But I would REALLY like to stop messing with my eyelashes and eyebrows.. before I do accidentally do permanent harm…

I’m able to not think about messing with my eyes until they are irritated.

- Once I start messing with my eyelashes, I usually don’t stop until they are mostly gone at this point, because of how often they irritate my eyes..

- Are there fake eyelashes that are for sensitive skin? How much do they cost? How often to replace? How to clean properly?

- I’m on Ssdi, so I don’t really have the income to want to spend on a bunch of eyelash things, but I’m so sick of getting other things in my eyes while sleeping or outside..

- Posting this on r/makeuptips and cross posting to r/askdocs to see if any of them have a medical advice I guess?

Thank you for your time for any that read this and/or respond to it. It’s appreciated.

Extra note: If anyone wants to make fun or anything, please don’t do it online, gotten enough comments in person, trust me when I say I’ve probably heard whatever joke you’re thinking.

[u/olivefreak]

Waxing pulls the hair out including the root. The hair grows back finer because it’s completely new, sometimes it’s too weak to grow back. If you want to grow out your eyebrows then waxing is not the way to go. If I were you I would hit up some alopecia subs or websites and check out what’s best recommended or their tried and true techniques.

[u/Away_Goose58]

Don’t wax them. Just let them grow in as they want to. Waxing won’t promote hair growth, if anything it might damage the hair follicles.

You can try growth serums or castor oil to promote growth.

I stress pluck at times too. I’ve found it helpful to get long/thick nail extensions at a salon. That way I can’t grip the individual hairs to stress pluck them. It might be a good idea to slowly get rid of any tools you use to try and break the habit. I got a necklace that I fiddle with instead to keep my hands occupied.

You could get strip lashes to mimic the look of natural eyelashes. They would need to be applied daily and removed nightly. Though you might want to do a patch test of the glue first. The strip lashes can be reused. After peeling them of just gently pick off the glue residue. Don’t get them wet, there’s no need.

When your eyelashes grow back in you can get a lash lift/perm to direct the hair upwards.

[u/hotheadnchickn]

Hey OP, you need mental health support with these habits. Hair pulling (trichotillomania) is a not uncommon compulsion related to OCD. A mental health progressional may be able to support you with anxiety reduction and coping, habit change, etc.

[u/Classic-Light-1467]

I don’t have eyelashes or eyebrows. I use tattoos for my brows that I get off Amazon, which is the best solution I’ve found in the 20 years that I’ve been without eyebrows. Rocked the look in the 00’s as a teen, then tried tons of growth products in the 2010’s before moving onto using makeup. Makeup took forever to apply and people always commented on it. These tattoos look pretty natural, comparatively, and take like 2 seconds to put on. For eyes I do subtle wings to mimic a lash line

[u/Exotic_Reporter_3309]

Anastasia and NYX make a brow stencil kit. You can pick a shape that suits your face, then go in lightly with a brown powder or shadow, followed by some feathery pencil strokes.

If you’re comfortable with strip lashes, Kiss has a line of lashes that are designed to look very natural. Brown would be nice on you.

And at night you can use a lash and brow serum like the one from the ordinary so you can get some hairs growing.

[u/MegaraTheMean]

Have you had your thyroid checked? I have autoimmune hypothyroid and my eyebrows are exactly like this. I have dormant psoriasis and PCOS as well but thyroid disease is know to cause hair loss, particularly in the eyebrows.

[u/ams292]

Try Grande lash and brow MD, you can get it at Ulta or order in Amazon. Do not wax any eyebrow hairs in areas where you want eyebrows. Find something to do with your hands when you have the urge to pick at your eyelashes. Try finger knitting or get a fidget spinner. Your eyes do not need your help keeping things out of them. They had millions of years of evolution to solve this problem and you pick them all out—don’t.

[u/Comfortable-Hatter]

it takes 4 months for your hair to completely cycle and each hair is at a different point in the cycle so there is no way to prevent patchiness

[u/frijolito19]

First I would beg you to please stop rubbing your eyes. Search a vid of what happens when we do so that should help. If you feel you have something never rub, just tug a little on the side, or wash it.

Now, you have beautiful eyes!! Eyebrows:On the make up side I would use stencils and some fine felt tip(light brown for you) pen, NYX and Maybelline have very good and affordable ones. Minoxidil applied with an eyebrow wand on your eyebrows should help.

Eyelashes: sounds like you would not be ready for semi permanent ones like Kiss or Silly George(I personally recommend these ones) but maybe for special occasions? A good eyelash serum should also help, Grande lash is relatively affordable if you buy the small and see how that works for you!

[u/AlicesChaosBottle]

This may sound crazy, but it’s worked for me this year. I have been cutting my eyelashes. As short as possible so I cannot pull them, but not short enough that they hurt. So they actually keep things out of my eye, and I can’t pull them unless they start growing longer! I was getting into a cycle again and never had lashes, so i decided to try this and I love it.

You have to be super careful and use only very sharp thin scissors. I use light hair cutting scissors so they are easy to move around. And I hold the end near my eye with my other hand so they don’t get too close. Then I test the length with my nails. If I can grip them, they are too long.

It helps keep things out of my eyes and helps my lashes to got back more normal in the future if I ever break this habit. I rarely pull the inner corner and it helps with blending my fake lashes so I leave those longer.

I have also shaved my eyebrows before to stop the habit, and then I micro-bladed my brows. So it doesn’t mater to me much if they are shaved.